The Happiness Project

What does happiness look like for you, others, and the city? The Happiness Project is a reimagining of how individuals might best live and work together in urban space through engaging in unexpected and transcendent activities. Presented within empty storefronts in various parts of the city in November, the exhibition fosters connections between "the city that works" and "the city of neighborhoods," as well as ideas of work and play. After 22 years of the longest serving mayor in Chicago's history, Chicago’s new leader, Rahm Emanuel, is creating a new cultural policy plan. While artists often greet new politicians with a screed of demands, The Happiness Project aims to articulate the potential of how the right to pursue happiness, if applied to work, life, and governmental decisions, could transform the city and the well being of its inhabitants.

Why Happiness?
The current paradigm for measuring standard of living is the GNP (gross national product) index. However, because consumption of products doesn’t necessarily correspond to one’s standard of living - as evidenced when traffic jams increase gasoline consumption - the country of Bhutan has proposed the GNH (gross national happiness) index as the new “standard of living.” When the Dalai Lama visited Chicago in June he urged people to pursue happiness. The next day, the United Nations’ General Assembly encouraged its Member States to give importance to
happiness and well-being in measuring and achieving social and economic development. During a time of economic, political, and social uncertainty it might be considered a luxury to make decisions based on happiness. But The Happiness Project presents happiness as a power, and
according to the American constitution, the pursuit of happiness is a right.

What is a Happiness Oriented Policy?
The GNH index proposes nine indicators of happiness: physical and psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use and balance, community vitality and good governance. At the most fundamental level, happiness and well-being depends first on a sense of psychological well being, then on the quality of our relationships and environment. A connection to others is key; from family and friends, to a larger sense of community. Environmental and cultural vitality are also necessary conditions. In addition, a sense of political connection (or voice) clearly shows the interrelationship between all of the indicators. 

The Happiness Project is a way to bring voice to artists as Chicago’s new Mayor is creating a new cultural policy plan. Given the recent events of people coming together, The Happiness Project reflects and builds upon the growing desire for public participation, communal connections, and conversations through a range of actions, interventions, and events. It includes performances and dinners for Chicagoans to discuss Chicago’s quality of life and creative future and how the cultural plan might help implement these. The Happiness Project transforms Chicago’s empty storefronts and spaces resulting from the economic downturn into new zones of activity where unexpected, transcendent possibilities are explored as if in response to critical theorist Slavoj Zizek’s recent question, “We know what we do not want. But what do we want?”

The Happiness Project is curated by Tricia Van Eck, Artistic Director of 6018NORTH, a communal green space for experimental culture, installation, performance, and sound.

For the latest information please see: http://6018north.net/

Summary of The Happiness Project key times and events
(++ denotes performance or interactive event)

NOV. 4 and 5 from 10am – 10pm 

Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park
Olivia Block and Joseph Mills with Lou Mallozzi
Laughter and Tears, 2011
Courtesy of the artists in partnership with
the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture

Experimental Sound Studio presents Laughter and Tears, a surround-sound installation using the state of the art accoustics of the Pritzker Pavilion. Starting with recordings of laughter from a variety of sources, including improvising vocalists, anonymous audiences, and ordinary citizens, Chicago composers Olivia Block and Joseph Mills employ numerous electronic and acoustic techniques to transform and structure these sounds into a coherent musical form that explores laughter in all its range and nuance, from the comic to the devious. Lou Mallozzi shapes the composition into a surround-sound format creating an immersive installation environment.

NOV. 3 - 20 

Pilsen space - (1637 W 18th St)
Cosmic Workshop
Derek Chan (artist)
Lisa Alvarado (artist)
Joshua Abrams (musician)
Cosmic Workshop is a collaboration using indigenous symbols of the Americas. Centered around harmony, cycles of change and transference of energy, the artists aim to explore happiness through multiple modes of communication – visual art, music, conversations, and interaction. Finding a balance between work and play, the space is meant to be a public zone for exploring ideas, sounds and words that encourage open–ended explorations of how to transform reality through happiness.

Open hours
Nov 3 - 20. Open Thursday-Sun only 1:00pm-6:00pm
and by appointment: (310) 903-2366

++ NOV. 4th at 7pm: Performance by Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society

++ NOV. 5 at 3:30pm (opening event) 

Logan Square – Comfort Station (2579 N. Milwaukee Ave)
Jennifer Mills
Dealing With New Demands (group exhibition)
Courtesy of the artists

Dealing With New Demands offers multiple artists’ perspectives on the questions of happiness and quality of life proposed by “The Happiness Project.” Since the exhibition is organized as an art gallery and sales event, each original and affordable work is on view only until it is purchased, after which it is immediately deinstalled and taken home. The artwork is intended to be a catalyst for continued conversation in people’s homes. As the works sell, the exhibition evolves into an installation of red “sold” dots documenting the exchanges as well as suggesting a booming art economy created by artists. The sales proceeds are split between the artists, curator, and “Street-Level Youth Media,” a local organization that
offers free after-school media arts workshops to neighborhood youth.

Artists presented:
Jesse Butcher, Dayton Castleman, Ricardo Harris-Fuentes, Neil Jacobsen, Robin Kang, Katie Klein, Julie Laffin, Joseph Mohan, Anthony Romero, Jillian Soto, and Ashley Thomas

Open Hours:
Saturdays and Sundays Nov. 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27 from 12:00pm – 4:00pm

NOV. 10 from 5-9pm (group exhibition opening party) 

Chicago Pop-Up Art Loop Alliance loop gallery (23 E. Madison)
Nov. 8 – Dec. 3 Mon – Sat 11:30am – 5:30pm
Artists presented: Keith Buchholz, Alejandro Cesarco, Derek Chan, Chelsea Culp, Iker Gil, Amber Ginsburg and Lia Rousett, Jason Lazarus, Adelheid Mers, Judd Morrissey and Mark Jeffery, Sabina Ott, Jan Tichy, Julie Walsh, and Frances Whitehead
Daily activities include 50 pairs of tap shoes for tapping & a chill-out room 

++ NOV. 11, 12, 13 - public filming begins at 3:30pm sharp - 4pm 

Chicago Pop-up At Loop Alliance window at 27 W. Randolph St.
Nov. 9 – Nov. 23
Gwyneth Anderson
Laughing Video, 2011
Courtesy of the artist

Laughing Video is a study of the suppression and expression of happiness, as carried out with a group of individuals at Harold Arts in Chesterhill, Ohio. One person at a time was asked to sit in front of the camera and maintain a serious expression, while the rest of the group stood behind the camera and attempted to make the subject smile. The result is a series of faces struggling to stifle emotion, each eventually succumbing to laughter. The work will be repeated with the public.
Hours of live performance/filming
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Nov. 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 (3pm sharp – 4pm)

NOV. 12 at 11am – 11:45am 

(Belmont & Southport corner)
James Kubie
Torero: Running with the Bulls!
Teenagers with bikes decorated as bulls chase after James Kubie, the sacrificial bull. Torero focuses on the relationship between man and animal via physical exertion, pageantry, and crowd behavior. Having undergone an extensive training program for both matadors and fighting bulls, Kubie fends off teenagers armed with decorated bicycles and gym shoes to create a pageant which honors and glorifies the indomitable spirit of both man and animal.

++ NOV. 13 - 10:00am - 11:30am 

Smiley banner flies above Chicago's lakefront, ending at the Bears pregame
Julie Walsh
Smiley, 2011
Stickers, chalk, and airplane banner
Courtesy of the artist
Addressing and counteracting how happiness is marketed, the smiley face will be presented in multiple ways. 1.) Students at Baker School receive smiley face stickers and chalk. They are asked to draw smiley faces on the sidewalk where they are happy and photograph it, for compilation in a presentation at 27 W. Randolph in December. 2.) Smiley face cookies given out Nov. 10 opening. 3.) An airplane flies with a smiley face. Submit images of the plane flying the banner to smiley.project.chicago@gmail.com

++ NOV. 13 - walk and lunch - 12 noon-1pm 

1130 W Thorndale
Judd Morrissey and Mark Jeffery
There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
1/2 hour walks with twitter and digital feeds and public conversations over lunch
Courtesy of the artists
The artists invite 2 strangers to walk separately with twitter feeds. Random actions and performances happen along the walk. After the walk, they gather in the gallery to have lunch and share their experiences of the walk. The public is invited to join the walks and listen to the lunch conversations.

++NOV 14, 15, 16: 12 noon-1pm 

23 E. Madison
Judd Morrissey and Mark Jeffery
There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

++ NOV. 17 - performance and reception - 5:30pm 

Swift Elementary School (5900 N. Winthrop Avenue)
ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble)
The Listening Room after-school program
Courtesy of ICE musicians, Peter Margasak, Swift Elementary School, and 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman

The Listening Room is a after-school workshop with ICE musicians and a 5th grade class, who learn to create a vocabulary of sounds that are translated into symbols, the symbols are translated into a score, which is rehearsed by the musicians. After listening to the performance the students modify the score. The musicians will then perform the final score for the public in the Swift Elementary school auditorium. The community reception is provided by 48th ward Alderman Harry Osterman.

++ NOV 18, 19, 20 - public filming begins at 3:30pm sharp - 4pm 

Chicago Pop-up At Loop Alliance window at 27 W. Randolph St.
Nov. 9 – Nov. 23
Gwyneth Anderson
Laughing Video, 2011
Courtesy of the artist

Laughing Video is a study of the suppression and expression of happiness, as carried out with a group of individuals at Harold Arts in Chesterhill, Ohio. One person at a time was asked to sit in front of the camera and maintain a serious expression, while the rest of the group stood behind the camera and attempted to make the subject smile. The result is a series of faces struggling to stifle emotion, each eventually succumbing to laughter. The work will be repeated with the public.
Hours of live performance/filming
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Nov. 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 (3pm sharp – 4pm)

++ NOV. 20 - potluck dinner from 5:30-9:30pm 

Hyde Park space at SHoP - (5638 S. Woodlawn Ave)
John Preus and SHoP (Southside Hub of Production)
Dinner and conversation
Courtesy of the artists

This dinner joins together two of Chicago’s newly formed community art initiatives on the north and south side - 6018NORTH and SHoP. The dinner aims to raise quality of life issues and ask how a neighborhood with its artists, small business people, architects, thought leaders, and urban planners can work together, support each other, and their respective communities to increase the quality of life within the city.

++ NOV. 24 - shopping hours of Black Friday 

27. W Randolph
Meg Duguid and Nick Black
Human-powered bicycle analog animation machine
Courtesy of the artists

The Happiness Project On-going events

OCT 22 – NOV 6 – Natasha Wheat’s window at 27 W. Randolph

NOV 2-30 (see individual dates for timing) 1130 West Thorndale

Kirsten Leenaars
Under Construction
Courtesy of the artist

In humorous and performative ways, Leenaars’s Under Construction asks “what is happiness” and “what is a perfect society?” Through these broad questions Leenaars explores how ideas from the collective get interpreted as personal stories and how ideologies can be transformed into actual policy. By interviewing inhabitants of the 48th Ward, city workers, and local policy makers, the artist creates scenarios for these people to perform as themselves. Presented as a series of video-based performances and presentations, developed in a quick and spontaneous fashion using Brechtian theatre strategies, Under Construction mirrors individuals’ collective work of building a more “perfect” society. During opening hours people are invited to walk in, watch the making of and development of the project, and participate in the project as: actor/advisor/politician/peacekeeper/cynic/critic/citizen/lawenforcer/lover/storyteller/stoic/specialist/interviewee/impersonator/intermediary/builder/bureaucrat/organizer/office clerk/oracle, etc.

Open hours:
Mon and Wed Nov. 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 28, 30: 12-7 pm
--Wednesday Nov. 23: 12-5 pm --
Thurs Nov. 3, 10, 17: 12-4 pm
Sat and Sun Nov. 12, 13, 26, 27: 12-5pm

NOV 6 – 23 – Gwyneth Anderson’s window at 27 W. Randolph

NOV. 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27 (Sat and Suns) – 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Comfort Station Dealing with New Demands

NOV. 8 – 30 (Mon – Sat only) 11:30am – 5:30pm 

23 E. Madison The Happiness Project group exhibition Tap shoes for public tapping with Amber Ginsburg and Lia Rousett’s Tapping into Happiness

NOV. 24 – 30

Meg Duguid’s and Nick Black’s window – 27 W. Randolph Activation of Human-powered bicycle analog animation machine

Click here to download a pdf of event calendar

PRESS:

Chicago Tribune

Jettison Quarterly
Newcity
Chicago Magazine
and Chicago Magazine
Time Out Chicago